New research published last Friday shows how the Mayor’s bold measures to tackle London’s filthy air, including launching the world’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone in April, will benefit all Londoners, but particularly those living in the capital’s deprived areas.
Research has long indicated a strong link between air quality and social inequality, which Sadiq is determined to address alongside his work to protect the environment and improve the health of Londoners. Across the country, toxic air leads to around 40,000 premature deaths every year, and increases the risk of asthma, cancer, dementia – imposing a financial burden of more than £20 billion on the economy every year. London’s filthy air makes chronic illnesses worse, shortens life expectancy and damages lung development in children.
People living in the capital’s most deprived areas are, on average, exposed to about a quarter more NO2 pollution. Friday’s report, commissioned by City Hall and carried out by air quality and climate change emissions consultants Aether, shows that the Mayor’s tough air quality measures would help improve air quality so that the difference would narrow considerably, with the gap reduced by 71 per cent by 2030 – from 7.55 µg/m3 in 2013 to 2.23 µg/m3.
The research reveals children from some of the poorest backgrounds will benefit the most from the Mayor’s bold measures to tackle air quality. A previous Aether study found of the schools in the highest polluting areas of London around 80 per cent were defined as being ‘deprived’. The report predicts that as a result of the Mayor’s action, no schools in the capital will be exposed to illegally high levels of air pollution by 2025. The number of primary schools in areas exceeding legal limits for harmful NO2 is projected to drop dramatically from 371 in 2013 to just four in 2020, while the number of secondary schools is expected to fall from 82 in 2013 to only one in 2020, with no schools at all in high polluting NO2 areas by 2025.
The report also looked at the exposure of different ethnic groups. Areas of London where people from mixed or multiple ethnic groups were more likely to live were also more likely to have higher levels of NO2, whereas those areas where white residents were more likely to live were more likely to have lower concentrations. Mainly as a result of the Mayor’s tough measures, including ULEZ, the difference in exposure between these areas is expected to reduce by 85 per cent.
The Mayor’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, launching in the central London congestion zone on 8th April and expanding to the North and South circular in October 2021, is just one element of Sadiq’s bold strategy to improve Londoners’ health and protect the capital’s environment. It will play a significant part in achieving these improvements by removing the most polluting vehicles from the areas of poorest air quality.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Improving London’s air quality is a social justice issue as well as a public health matter, given it is certain communities which are affected by filthy air the most. Today’s report shows that some of the poorest Londoners will benefit the most from the bold measures we are taking to tackle London’s filthy air. By taking tough action, we can ensure that within six years the most deprived schools will be no more likely to have higher exposure to NO2 pollution than the least deprived schools. It cannot be right that your background and where you live determines the quality of the air you breathe and that is exactly why measures like the Ultra Low Emission Zone are so vital.”
